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REPORT 



OF THE 



Stars and Bars Committee 



United 

Confederate 

Veterans 



RICHMOND REUNION 



June 1 to 3. 1915 



REPORT 



OF THE 



Stars and Bars Committee 



United 

Confederate 

Veterans 



RICHMOND REUNION 



June 1 to 3, 1915 



,A5^ 



In Excliaiige. 



To the United Confederate Veterans, in convention assem- 
bled, at Richmond, Va., June 1-3, 1915: 

Comrades — Your committee, appointed by Special Or- 
der No. 30, September 14, 1914, in accordance with resolu- 
tion passed at the Jacksonville Reunion, "to investigate the 
designing of the 'Stars and Bars' Flag of the Confederacy," 
have, as therein directed, made a most thorough and ex- 
haustive examination of the whole matter — it gave all pos- 
sible publicity — and your committee beg leave to submit the 
following report : 

The Hon. Wm. Porcher Miles, for the Committee on 
Flag and Seal of the Confederacy, made report to the Pro- 
visional Congress of the Confederate States, March 4, 1861 ; 
with this report was submitted the selected design. Mr. 
Miles reported ''that something was conceded by the com- 
mittee to what seemed a strong desire to retain, at least, 
a suggestion of the old Stars and Stripes." The design so 
submitted by the committee, and subsequently approved by 
the Congress, was, however, so suggestive of the old "Stars 
and Stripes" that it was practically the same, except the 
bars, "Red, White and Red," were substituted for the 
thirteen stripes. 

The report brings out the fact which, for the truth of 
history, should be ever remembered, that the Southern peo- 
ple earnestly and devotedly loved the old Union ; that they 
seceded therefrom with deep regret when forced to do so 
to maintain their rights as a free people; and this attach- 
ment was so strong that the Congressional Committee was 
obliged to recommend a flag closely resembling "Old Glory," 
which had ever been cherished by the Southern people. 

•The decison of the Flag Committee evidently eliminated 
all other designs and limited them in their selection to the 
most practicable of the designs, which "assimilated to the 
United States Flag." There is not a word in the said report 
which justifies the statement of a local newspaper in saying, 
"The Flag of the Confederate States was the work of the 
committee appointed by Congress— none of the designs sent 
by indivduals as models having been thought suitable." 



4 UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS 

The commitee says "that the mass of models or designs 
were, more or less, copied from or assimilated to the United 
States Flag," and they reported a design almost the same 
as the United States Flag — a design practically like what is 
claimed to have been submitted by two of our comrades. 
Why should the committee attempt to design a flag when it 
thus had the model of the fla^ decided on in their possession? 
Moreover, the report to Congress does not claim that the 
committee designed, but only submitted a model. 

Two claimants have filed their claims w^ith your com- 
mittee, and submitted evidence w^hich each honestly believes 
substantiates the claim made, to wit : 

Maj. Orren Randolph Smith, of Louisbiirg, N. C, pre- 
sented by his devoted daucihter. Miss Jessica R. Smith. 

Mr. Nicola Marschall (in 1861), of Marion, Ala., 
since 1873 a resident of Louisville, Ky., submitted first by 
his tvife and afterivards, ivith her consent, enlarged and 
added to by Mrs. Chappell Cory, of Birmingham, Ala. 

There has been some evidence of State rivalry being in- 
jected into this contention. Your committee deplores this. 
It has eliminated such in forming judgment, and desired 
only to ascertain the truth. 

Your committee desires to state that it has no intention 
of doubting, or in the slightest degree impugning, the ve- 
racity of either claimant, or of those testifying. It believes 
each is endeavoring to tell the truth. But memory, after the 
lapse of fifty years, is most unreliable. It respects the 
claimants' veracity, even if it is forced to doubt the relia- 
bility of the memory of either. 

To reach the truth the claimants' personal statements 
should therefore be corroborated by additional testimony. 

The testimony submitted tvill be considered from three 
standpoints, tchich your committee thinks exhaustive: 

First. That of contemporaneous or local opinion of 
the facts. On this point both claimants submit testimony, 
of more or less strength, that it was the belief in 1861 of 
persons residing in the immediate vicinity of the residence 
of the claimants that each of said claimants had submitted 
the chosen design. The evidence is so even, and the point of 
so little value, in view of other evidence, that we need not 
follow^ it up further. 



REPORT OF STARS AND BARS COMMITTEE 5 

Seco7id. That of the direct eviderice of parties, other 
than the claimants, as to such designing and submission 
thereof to the Flag Committee of the Confederate Congress. 
There is no evidence whatever submitted to show that any 
person, except Mr. Marschall himself, ever saw his design, 
or knew^ it was submitted to the Congressional Committee. 
Even were it proven, as stated in evidence, as the belief of 
some of the witnesses, submitted by Mrs. Cory, that Mr. 
Marschall made a design for Mrs. Lockett, and that she 
gave said design to Governor Moore, Governor of Alabama, 
this would not warrant any ^ assumption that Governor 
Moore gave it to the Confederate Congressional Committee, 
for this Committee was one of a Congress with whose duties 
the Governor of Alabama had nothing whatever to do. 

On the part of Major Smith, the lady who made his 
model, and four parties who each saw her making it, testify 
that it was the design of Major Smith which was so made, 
and that it was sent to the Confederate authorities at Mont- 
gomery, and adopted as the ''Stars and Bars Flag." Mrs. 
Cory states that she does not deny that Major Smith sub- 
mitted a design. 

Besides this, nine parties testify as to a flag-raising, in 
Louisburg, N. C, on March 15, 1861, before North Carolina 
had seceded, which Mrs. Cory also states she does not deny. 

The bearing of this flag-raising on this contention is, 
that the flag so raised is sworn to by the maker of the model, 
sent to Montgomery, and by one who saw her making both, 
as an exact copy, except as to size, of the model flag she 
made for Major Smith, and which had been adopted by Con- 
gress as the ''Stars and Bars Flag." 

The evidence on this second point overwhelmingly 
favors the claim of Major Smith. 

Thii^d. That of statements personally made by the 
claimants. No evidence is submitted which throws a shadow 
of doubt on the accuracy of Major Smith's memory, and 
much is given as to high character. But very important 
evidence is submitted impeaching the recollections of Mr. 
Marschall. In his aflftdavit, Mr. Marschall also claims to 
have designed the Confedrate uniform, as well as the flag. 
But our gallant comrade, Major Lamar Fontaine, of Lyons, 



6 UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS 

Miss., submits an affidavit, accompanying the same with 
photographs, giving such circumstantial and most plausible 
details, as to add to the conviction of its reliability, that he 
gave to the Confederate Committee on ''Uniform'' a model ; 
that this was the uniform of the Russian Kioski Cossacks 
Regiments, who were the bodyguard of Prince Gortschakoff . 
This uniform Major Fontaine wore when a member of said 
command, during the siege of Sevastopol, and that was 
adopted as the basis for the Confederate uniform. 

If Mr. Marschall's memory fails him as to designing 
the uniform, it is not unlikely that it has also failed him as 
to designing the flag. 

Therefore, we cannot place that reliance, which we 
otherwise would, upon his statement, based on a memory 
which is thus proved not reliable. 

The evidence of this point alone, without regard to 
No. 2, above, is convincing as to Major Smith's claim. 

Reviewing the evideyice, it is shown that in the place 
of residence of each claimant, the people gave each of said 
claimants the credit of designing the flag. This is very 
natural. Many historical truths, and many historical myths, 
are supported by like beliefs. 

Evidence is presented of the lady who made Major 
Smith's model, and others who saw her at work, making 
the same. The evidence shows that the flag was Major 
Smith's design— that it was sent to Montgomery, and it 
was the same as the "Stars and Bars Flag" adopted by the 
Confederate Congress. 

The claimants for Mr. Marschall voluntarily state that 
they do not deny that Major Smith sent a model to Mont- 
gomery. 

There is no evidence to show, that anyone testifying, 
saw Mr. Marschall's model, or of their own knowledge knew 
that such was made, or that it was handed to the Confed- 
erate Congressional Committee. If it was handed to Gov- 
ernor Moore, of Alabama, it by no means indicates that it 
ever reached, or even was intended for, the Congressional 
Committee. 

The memory of Major Smith stands unchallenged, 
while that of Mr. Marschall is undoubtedly incorrect, as to 



REPORT OF STARS AND BARS COMMITTEE 7 

his recollection of designing the uniform, and is not there- 
fore inapt to be as to designing the flag. 

Your committee is not, from the evidence before it, 
convinced that Mr. Marschall ever submitted a design for 
the flag. The evidence does show that Major Smith did 
submit a design, which is admitted by Mrs. Cory. 

You?' Committee is convinced that Major Smith did 
submit a design. As the design which the Congressional 
Committee submitted, with its report, which was adopted, 
as the evidence most clearly shows, to be the same as Major 
Smith's design, it is reasonable to conclude that Major Smith 
submitted the design of the ''Stars and Bars Flag" of the 
Confederate States. 

Your Committee would therefore report, after a most 
careful consideration, a7id thorough investigation, that the 
honor of having designed the first flag of the Confederate 
States, knoivn as the ''Stars and Bars," is due and should 
be awarded, by the United Confederate Veterans, to MAJOR 
ORREN RANDOLPH SMITH, LATE OF LOUISBURG, 
NORTH CAROLINA. 

Your Committee beg to transmit herewith the entire 
evidence submitted to it, which it fears is too lengthy for 
publication in our minutes, but it appends, as Exhibits, 
a brief synopsis thereof. 

Respectfully submitted, 

(Signed) C. IRVINE WALKER, Chairman, 

THOMAS GREEN, SR., 
JNO. P. HICKMAN, Committee. 



EXHIBIT L 



Claim of Miss Jessica R. Smith, as to her father. Major 

Orren Randolph Smith, having designed the Stars and 

Bars Flag of the Southern Confederacy : 
Generals C. Irvine Walker, John P. Hickman and Thomas 

Green, Sr., Committee U. C. V. 

Gentlemen — ^I respectfully submit this, my claim, that 
the honor of designing the Stars and Bars flag of the South- 



8 UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS 

ern Confederacy, is due to my father, Major Orren Ran- 
dolph Smith, of Louisburg, Franklin County, North Caro- 
lina. Evidence proving this claim is herewith submitted. 

First. Major 0. R. Smith, during his life, clearly 
claimed the honor and described in detail its conception, 
what it stood for and how made. His high character and 
truthfulness is evident in Exhibts 10, 11, 19. 

For Major Smith's statement see Exhibit 1. 

Second. The model for the flag, which model was sent 
to the Confederate Congress, at Montgomery, Alabama, was 
designed by Major 0. R. Smith and made, under his di- 
rection, by Mrs. Catherine Rebecca Winborne. She testifies 
as to making this model and that said model was sent to the 
Confederate Congress, at Montgomery, Alabama. See Ex- 
hibit 2. * 

Mrs. Sue Jasper Sugg testifies she saw Mrs. Winborne 
making the flag for Major Smith, which he had designed to 
be sent as a model for the Confederate flag, to Montgomery, 
and also the large flag of the same design, which was raised 
at Louisburg. See Exhibit 3. 

Testimony as to the veracity of both the above aflfiants 
are appended to said affidavits. 

Mrs. J. A. Jones, Mrs. Emma Spencer and Mr. Adam 
Ball gave affidavits bearing the same testimony as Mrs. 
Winborne and Mrs. Sugg. See Exhibits 4, 5, 6. 

Third. The local opinion in and around Louisburg, 
N. C, was very decided and general that Major 0. R. Smith 
designed the Stars and Bars Flag. Contemporary evidence 
of a fact generally believed is very apt to be correct. The 
existence of a general belief in Major Smith's having de- 
signed the Stars and Bars Flag is shown in the affidavits 
of Exhibits 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18. 

Fourth. Major 0. R. Smith also had a large flag made 
by Mrs. Winborne, such flag being a duplicate of the model 
she had previously made, and was sent to Montgomery and 
was adopted as the Confederate Stars and Bars Flag. In 
evidence of this, see her aflfldavit. Exhibit 2, and that of 
Mrs. Sue Jasper Sugg's, Exhibit 3. 

There are quite a number of affidavits, testifying to this 
flag-raising. They prove that a flag which Mrs. Winborne 



REPORT OF STARS AND BARS COMMITTEE 9 

and Mrs. Sugg (see Exhibits 2 and 3) say was exactly like 
the model sent to the Confederate Congress by Major Smith, 
and was raised at Louisburg. 

They generally prove, in addition to the fact that the 
Stars and Bars Flag was raised in Louisburg, North Caro- 
lina, March 18th, 1861, that the flag raised was the Confed- 
erate flag, and was believed to have been designed by Major 
O. R. Smith. See Exhibits 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16. 

As corroborative of my claim, I submit the report of a 
Committee of the North Carolina Confederate Veterans' 
Association. They have carefully reviewed the testimony 
in substantiating my claim and make an unanimous report 
in favor of the claim that my father. Major 0. R. Smith, 
designed the Stars and Bargs flag of the Confederacy. See 
Exhibit 19. 

The North Carolina Division of the United Daughters 
of the Confederacy also adopted unanimously the report of 
Mrs. Fannie Ransom Williams, which she read at larboro, 
N. C, Historical Evening, October, 1913. See Exhibit 20. 

All of which is respectfully submitted, and I trust that 
the evidence submitted will fully substantiate the claim I 
make in honor of my dear old father's memory, tnat he. 
Major Orren Randolph Smith, should be awarded the dis- 
tinction of having designed the Stars and Bars Flag of the 
Confederacy. 

Sincerely yours, 
(Signed) JESSICA RANDOLPH SMITH. 



BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF EVIDENCE SUBMITTED. 

Smith Exhibit 1. Affidavit of Major Orren R. Smith 
describing his designing the flag. 

Smith Exhibit 10. Action of Board of Commissioners 
of Franklin County, North Carolina, September, 1914. 

Smith Exhibit No. 11. Action of Commissioners of the 
Town of Louisburg, S. C, September 4, 1914. 

Smith Exhibit 19. Report of Committee of North Car- 
olina Division, U. C. V., by Walter Clark, W. P. Wood and 
J. Bryan Grimes. 

The above three exhibits, in addition to others, bear 
witness to the high character of Major 0. R. Smith. 



10 UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS 

Smith Exhibit 2. Affidavit of Mrs. Catherine Rebecca 
Winborne that she made the model for Major Smith, and 
knows that it was sent to Confederate authorities at Mont- 
gomery, and that the flag adopted and known as the Stars 
and Bars was the same as that made by her for Major Smith. 

Smith Exhibit 3. Affidavit of Mrs. Sue Jasper Sugg 
that she saw Mrs. C. R. Winborne making the model flag for 
Major Smith. 

Smith Exhibit 4. Affidavit of Mrs. Mollie S. Jones. 

Smith Exhibit 5. Affidavit of Mrs. E. G. Spencer. 

Smith Exhibit 6. Affidavit of Adam Ball. 

The three above affidavits corroborate those of Mrs. 
Winborne and Mrs. Sugg. 

Smith Exhibit 7. Affidavits of Miss Lou E. Brown. 

Smith Exhibit 8. Affidavit of Mrs. W. M. Persen. 

Smith Exhibit 9. Action of Chamber of Commerce of 
Louisburg, N. C, at a meeting held September 13, 1914. 

Smith Exhibit 12. Action of the R. M. McKinney 
Camp, U. C. v., at a meeting held September 7, 1914. 

Smith Exhibit. 13. Action of J. J. Davis Camp, U. D. 
C, at a meeting held September 9, 1914. 

Smith Exhibit 14. Affidavit of Captain J. A. Turner, 
of the Franklin Rifles. 

Smith Exhibit 15. Affidavit of Mrs. Kate M. Cren- 
shaw. 

Smith Exhibit 16. Affidavit of Mrs. W. P. Mont- 
gomery. 

Smith Exhibit 17. Affidavit of Captain T. T. Collie, 
Company L, Fifteenth N. C. Regiment and Company K, 
Thirty-Second N. C. Regiment, C. S. A., and a war member 
of the Franklin Rifles. 

Smith Exhibit 18. Affidavit of W. H. H. Hill. 

Smith Exhibit 21. Letter of Mrs. J. E. Malone. 

The above eleven exhibits, together with Exhibits Nos. 
10 and 11, previously referred to, were submitted to show 
that it was the local opinion in Franklin County, N. C, that 
Major Smith designed the Stars and Bars Flag. 

The affidavits 15 and 16, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 13 and 14 also 
show that the Stars and Ears Flag was raised at Louisburg, 
N. C, March 15, 1861, and was made like a model Major 



REPORT OF STARS AND BARS COMMITTEE 11 

Smith had designed and submitted to the Confederate au- 
thorities at Montgomery. 

Smith Exhibit 20. Letter from Mrs. T. W. Thrash, 
Secretary North Carolina Division, U. D. C, advising Miss 
Smith that the North Carolina Division, U. D. C, had on 
October 9, 1913, unanimously adopted the report, substanti- 
ating the claim of Major Smith that he designed the Stars 
and Bars Flag. 



EXHIBIT 2. 



Claim of Mrs. Chappell Cory as to Mr. Nicola Marschall 
having designed the Stars and Bars Flag of the South- 
ern Confederacy, and letter from Mrs, Marschall, re- 
questing the committee to submit original Marschall 
claim to Mrs. Cory for her amendment. 

Birmingham, Ala., December 29, 1914. 

General C. Irvine Walker, Chairman, 
Summerville, S. C. 

Dear Sir — I am sending you herewith some documents 
which sustain the historic truth as to the origin of the 
Stars and Bars. 

I claim for Mr. Nicola Marschall that the committee 
could not agree upon any one design sent in. The commit- 
tee, under its instructions, procured from some source four 
designs and submitted them. Congress was in session at 
Montgomery, Ala. Governor Moore was a resident of 
Marion. Mrs. Lockett was a leading spirit among the Con- 
federate women, and was connected by marriage to Governor 
Moore and Mr. Marschall, an artist of local celebrity, who 
had designed some flags and banners for individual com- 
panies, etc. 

It was entirely in the natural order of things that the 
request for suggestions reached Mr. Marschall, and that he 
made the suggestions in the shape of three designs, and one 
of them was accepted. 

The documents submitted herewith sustained this con- 
tention, and are as follows : 

First. Affidavit from Mr. Marschall. 



12 UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS 

Second. Statement from his wife. 

Third. Statements from Mrs. Lockett's son and daugh- 
ter and from others who were then in Marion, Ala., and 
were familiar with the facts. 

Fourth. Extracts from the Confederate Congressional 
Records from Harrison's book, ''The Stars and Sripes," 
from the Montgomery Advertiser. 

Fifth. A copy of the Louisville Courier- Journal of 
June 14, 1905, published at Mr. Marschall's home, contain- 
ing sketches of the three designs of Mr. Marschall as he de- 
signed them, said copy of the Courier- Journal antedating by 
six years the copy of the Montgomery Advertiser of 1911, in 
which an incorrect design was printed, and with which Mr. 
Marschall is not connected up in any way. 

Sixth. Please refer to the minutes of the Fifteenth An- 
nual Session of the North Carolina Daughters, page 25, 
where the historian innocently confesses that she had never 
heard of the claim of Major Smith until June, 1911; also 
page 26, showing how^ recent is the Smith contention. 

I presume at some time before your committee reaches 
an opinion, which will exert great influence on the opinions 
of others, that you will have a public hearing at which the 
several claimants may be heard, of which you will give due 
notice. 

Please take the utmost care of all original documents 
sent you, especially of the Courier Journal, as I attach great 
value to them, and wish to get them back. 

Very respectfully yours, 

(Signed) MRS. CHAPPELL CORY. 



Louisville, Ky., December 22, 1914. 

General C. Irvine Walker. 

My Dear Sir — Please send to Mrs. Chappell Cory, Bir- 
mingham, Ala., 113 North Twenty-First Street, the papers 
I sent to you about Mr. Marschall's claim to the Confederate 
Flag. 



REPORT OF STARS AND BARS COMMITTEE 13 

Mrs. Cory has other papers which she will place with 
these and then she will send all to you for your committee. 
She is getting up all our proof and will present to you. 

Please send these to her immediately, and oblige, 

(Signed) MRS. NICOLA MARSCHALL, 

1126 South Fourth Avenue. 



BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF EVIDENCE SUBMITTED. 

(1) Affidavit of Mr. Nicola Marschall as to his having 
made the design for the Stars and Bars Flag and for the 
Confederate uniform. 

(2) Affidavit of Mrs. Marschall, showing that she be- 
lieves that in Marion, Ala., Mr. Marschall was esteemed the 
designer of the flag. 

(3) Certificate of Mr. W. A. Lockett. 

(4) Certificate of Miss Fannie Lockett. 

(5) Affidavit of Mrs. Jas. A. Smith. 

(6) Certificate of Colonel Sumter Lee. 

The four statements (3 to 6) are the recollection of 
those making them that Mrs. Lockett asked Mr. Marschall 
to make a design for the Flag of the Confederacy, but none 
show that any design he may have made was presented to 
the Confederate Congressional Committee (Governor Moore 
had no connection with the said Congress) , or that the de- 
sign was seen by any one so certifying, or that any of said 
certifiers were personally cognizant of Mr. Marschall's hav- 
ing made any design. 

(7), Statement of Hon. John Peurifoy that he under- 
stood that Mr. Marschall designed the flag. He knows noth- 
ing thereof of his own knowledge. 

(8) Statement of Colonel D. M. Scott that it was un- 
derstood in Marion, Ala., that Mr. Marschall had designed 
the flag. 

(9) Letter of Mr. Ernest T. Florance. 

(10) Statement of Mrs. Martha McKerall, very pos- 
itively asserting that Mrs. Lockett and Mr. Marschall de- 
signed the flag — not Mr. Marschall alone, but both together. 

(11) Copy of the report of Hon. Wm. Porcher Miles, 
of the Committee on Flag and Seal of the Confederacy, from 



14 UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS 

Journal of the Confederate Congress, March 4, 1861 ; very 
interesting and valuable. 

(12) Copy of article from the Montgomery Adver- 
tiser, printed in the Mobile Daily Advertiser, March 7, 1861. 
This gives a newspaper account of the selection of the flag, 
claiming it to have been the design of the Congressional 
Committee, and not of any outsider. 

(13, 14) Refer principally to the designing of the Battle 
Flag, not the Stars and Bars; but contains statement from 
Mr. W. P. Miles referring to the committee's action and re- 
port as to the Stars and Bars, which is contradictory to his 
report. 

(15, 16, 17) Extracts from printed matter, giving no 
evidence to sustain Mr. Marschall's claim or any enlighten- 
ment as to who designed the Stars and Bars Flag. 

(18) Extract from Louisville Courier Journal, June 
14, 19D5, giving more in detail the statement made in Mr. 
Marschall's aflddavit. 

The following numbers, 19 to 23, certify as to the gen- 
eral belief existing in Marion, Ala., that Mr. Marschall de- 
signed the Stars and Bars Flag, and did so at the request 
of Mrs. Napoleon Lockett: 

(19) Testimony of sundry citizens residing in Marion, 
Ala. 

(20) Statement of Miss Hattie Morton. 

(21) Affidavit of Mr. C. H. Beale. 

(22) Statement of Mrs. Carlos Reese. 

(23) Letter of Mrs. Virgnia F. Drake. 



EXHIBIT 3. 

Statement of Major Lamar Fontaine, of Lyon, Miss., as to 
his having submitted design for the Confederate Uni- 
form. 

Lyon, Miss., December 19, 1914. 
General C. Irvine Walker, 
Summerville, S. C. 
My Dear General— Upon my arrival last night from a 
professional tour down in the heart of the Yazoo-Mississippi 
Delta, I found your interesting letter of the 12th inst., await- 



REPORT OF STARS AND BARS COMMITTEE 15 

ing my answer, regarding the adoption of the Confederate 
uniform. 

Now I gave Miss Jessica Smith a sworn statement re- 
garding the same. Now I am sending you a photo-copy of 
a Daguerrotype taken of myself at Sevastopol, during the 
siege of that city by the allied armies, on the 20th day of 
December, 1854, while I was recovering from a wound re- 
ceived in the Malakoff during the awful cannonade of that 
famous fortress that guarded the inner harbor of the city 
of Sevastopol. Now this picture shows you the gray uni- 
form of the soldiers of Prince Gortschakoff , who command- 
ed the Russian forces in the city of Sevastopol. It was the 
uniform of the Kioski Cossack regiments, who composed 
the bodyguard of the prince, and differed from the others ; 
only the bodyguard wore a star on the lapel of each collar, 
while the other Cossacks wore a single star, in the front of 
their fur caps. I think you will recognize the likeness to 
our uniform, for I don't think the old Daguerrotype tells a 
lie, and this picture was taken sixty years ago, more than 
ten years before the Confederate States were formed. While 
at Pensacola, in January, 1861, I saw a notice that the Pro- 
visional Congress would assemble in the city of Montgom- 
ery, Ala., and I left Pensacola to see the men who were to 
guide the destinies of the young Southern Confederacy. 
"Bill" Yancey, of Alabama, was my choice for President. 
The committee chosen to select a uniform for the soldiers 
Ox the Southern Confederacy advertised for designs, and 
said they would meet in their committee room in the Capitol 
building on February 14th to select and adopt the uniform. 
I had a brand new replica of my Kioski Cossack uniform 
made by a tailor in Montgomery (quite an old man at that 
time) , with all the insignias of rank from corporal to com- 
mander, prepared, with fastenings to show where they were 
placed and in what position on sleeve and collar, and on 
St. Valentine's Day, 1861, I carried my uniform and ex- 
hibited it to the committee. I used the brass buttons of the 
State of South Carolina, with the motto, "Animis Opibus- 
que Parati," and the design of the Palmetto Tree and the 
"S" on one side of the palmetto tree and the ''C" on the 
other. I told the history of my having worn the uniform in 
battle and how hard it was to see it in the sulphur smoke of 



16 UNITED CONFEDERATE VETERANS — - -;„-. eo c ^ 

013 701 5oo O ■ 

the guns, as it was an exact smoke color \ and I illustrated 
it by putting a small charge of powder in an old flint-lock 
pistol without a wad on the powder, and flashing it between 
the uniform and the committee. 

Now the photo I am sending you was taken of me while 
a member of Prince Gortschakoff's Kioski Cossack Body- 
guard, and you can see a replica of our uniform and com- 
pare it with that worn by yourself in the Confederate Army. ' 
And this photo is an exact replica from the original Da- 
guerrotype taken of me in Sebastopol, when just twenty-five 
years old; and I send you another taken of me at Tus- 
cumbia, Ala., in October, 1863), while serving on the staff 
of General Phillip Dale Roddy as commandant of the post 
in that city. You can compare them, and give them to the 
public with this letter, if you wish. I have already given 
Miss Jessica Smith my story, and acknowledged it before 
a notary public. 

With kind regards to you and those near and dear, I 
am, in sunshine or showier, your friend and comrade, 

(Signed) LAMAR FONTAINE, C. E., S., Ph. D., 

Lyon, Miss. 



AFFIDAVIT OF MAJOR LAMAR FONTAINE 

Relating to Adoption of Confederate Army Uniform. 

Lamar Fontaine fought in Russia, 1854-1855. The uni- 
form he has on is exact copy of Prince Gortschakoff 's Kioski 
Cossack Bodyguards. On this uniform I wore the iron cross 
of Peter the Great. Original buttons on his R. uniform, and 
Confederate Congress did not adopt the button, but indorsed 
the gray uniform in detail. 

All insignias, from corporal to commanding general, I 
(Fontaine) put on and explained to committee. Over twenty 
designs of uniforms to select from. This uniform was adopt- 
ed on St. Valentine's Day, 1861, by Uniform Committee of 
C. S. A., without a dissenting voice, at Montgomery, Ala. 

(Signed) LAMAR FONTAINE. 

H. W. JOHNSTON, 

Notary Public, State of Florida. 
My commission expires April 4, 1918. 



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